is it actually worth reading anything cause it kinda just feels like a cognitohazard to make you give up on any hope for a better future

  • troondreams
    4·
    2 days ago

    it’s worth reading even the bare introductory stuff just so you can see how utterly uneducated people are on what communism is at all

    • bp16OP
      1·
      2 days ago

      i mean i guess i’ve read some stuff but it doesn’t really feel like enough to form a clear perspective on anything so

      • troondreams
        1·
        2 days ago

        That’s okay, the point is to get a better idea of what Capitalism is and how it functions.

  • AliceMonkeydaughter
    3·
    2 days ago

    some who read tons of theory start treating it like a belief system and law of nature rather than a tool to understand and analyze the world with. almost like gospel

    do it if you want to do it, if it makes you sad and hopeless, its okay to focus on other things.

    • bp16OP
      3·
      2 days ago

      i mean i get this impression where it feels like people get really invested in this stuff as a sort of pseudo-religion to cope about how awful the world is but idk i’m kinda stupid

      • Abby
        3·
        2 days ago

        it’s like religion but based on reality and facts

        • bp16OP
          1·
          2 days ago

          from an outsider perspective it’s hard not to feel like that though.

      • AliceMonkeydaughter
        2·
        2 days ago

        marx said “if there is one thing i know, its that i am not a marxist” and iirc it was refering to a phenomenon somewhat like this.

        i don’t believe in any large positive change within my lifetime, so i instead focus on what makes me happy.

        • bp16OP
          1·
          2 days ago

          yeah that’s very fair. I guess its hard to feel enthused by what seems like a community of very autistic larpers mostly lol

    • troondreams
      5·
      2 days ago

      definitely read it with a companion book, Capital requires knowledge of Classical Economical writings that is difficult to parse for modern readers

      • bp16OP
        1·
        2 days ago

        i’d like to do that, it’s not like i’ve read nothing but I don’t really want to go down a rabbithole of having to read far more than is realistic just to understand anything

        • troondreams
          2·
          2 days ago

          i mean you don’t have to. if you put in the work, you will understand it though

          • bp16OP
            1·
            2 days ago

            yeah it’s irritating. I think at one point I’m just going to have to give it a go because it’s annoying feeling like i can’t make up a coherent perspective without having read xyz texts

    • SapphicDiana
      1·
      2 days ago

      Capital is dense but if you have a decent grasp on economics already it’s v rewarding.

        • SapphicDiana
          1·
          2 days ago

          You’d probably be better served by starting with Engels writings. I find he gets his points across easier. An actual ml could probably give you a better suggestion for where to start, im more of an anarchist as much as that means anything

  • Abby
    2·
    2 days ago

    I mean I dont speak for everyone but yeah it made me pretty hopeless lol. I was just a stupid ignorant normie back when I didnt get into leftism… or just bliss of childhood?

  • Cambionic
    2·
    2 days ago

    I don’t really see any point. I used to be a leftist for several years, and you can grasp most talking points even without reading anything, just by interacting with a commie content a lot. I don’t find this knowledge particularly useful.

    • bp16OP
      3·
      2 days ago

      tbf one of the most common reasons why people beg people to read stuff is that loads of people use these as like social labels without actually knowing anything which is probably sorta understandable. I just don’t know if it’s worth my time tbh

      • Cambionic
        1·
        2 days ago

        I have read some things about communism, like manifesto, some articles, a few studies on Stalinism in russian, but I can’t read Das Kapital because of ADHD. I don’t mean like reading subreddit posts level of interacting with commie content. I largely watched a bunch of video essays by russian MLs. Still not good, obviously.

    • Abby
      2·
      2 days ago

      What made you stop being a leftist?

      • Cambionic
        1·
        2 days ago

        I found it useless. Overwhelming majority of leftists are just larpers on internet, theory relies on the works of Marx, and a lot has changed since that time. We now live in the world with advanced technology, revolutions require much more organization and resources. And there is nothing of that right now. Most protests now are just not going to big store chain for a weekend, even though fascism rises everywhere.

        And I generally just find the end result out of reach. I struggled with it a lot ever since I got engrossed into leftist content. But a lot of communism relies that after capitalism ends “it will work out”. Like a lot of tactics and strategies of dealing with work and resources distribution rely on a good will of people.

        Edit: I’m not right wing or anything right now. Capitalism is a huge problem. The world will end in suffering and there is not much to be done about it. I’m just completely nihilistic now.

        • Abby
          2·
          2 days ago

          I think most of this can be solved if you find a local leftist org. I aspire to join one day but I have my own shit to take care of first. and yeah the bit about larpers is true… most things marx wrote however are still valid in our day and age… idk my two cents. I just choose to believe in it to be not totally hopeless for the world and nihilistic, the western dominant bloc is indeed falling and this will pose a possibility for a revolution of some sort… but yeah it’s not too hopeful I think westoids are too brainwashed

          • Cambionic
            2·
            2 days ago

            I’m not sure there are any, ngl. My country is post USSR, so communism is hated a lot in here, even though USSR was socialist. If I ever get independent and mentally stable, I’m going to invest in vegan activism anyway. But good luck to you, I guess.

  • SapphicDiana
    2·
    2 days ago

    Not an ML, but reading theory of any sort can be useful. The goal is to change minds and policy, that needs to be done bit by bit, so every new person working towards the goal gets us there quicker

    • bp16OP
      2·
      2 days ago

      all the various sects making memes about each other online feels like the biggest larp circlejerk ever

      • SapphicDiana
        2·
        2 days ago

        Completely agree. Ppl get way too wrapped up in hyper-specific categories and what Lenin said in page 187 of whichever book. Talk to real leftists in your community, if you can find them.

        • bp16OP
          1·
          2 days ago

          i mean it makes the idea of any of this stuff being ‘scientific’ feel like a total joke when people treat it like their replacement of the bible

          • SapphicDiana
            1·
            2 days ago

            Politics, economics, philosophy, none of this stuff is scientific. You can take and use what you find necessary and reject the rest. And yeah ppl really do treat the fall of capitalism like the rapture. A better future gets built piece by piece, not in one glorious revolution

            • bp16OP
              1·
              2 days ago

              yeah I mean, there’s clearly something of value to all this literature but I can’t figure out what exactly and I’m still not entirely convinced that I should subscribe to the framework for understanding the world just on faith.

    • bp16OP
      1·
      2 days ago

      why though like what’s the point

        • bp16OP
          1·
          2 days ago

          i guess i just mean like… it feels pointless to know more if there’s nothing that can really be done yk?

            • bp16OP
              1·
              2 days ago

              but like is there actually any point? i mean it kinda just feels like a way to make yourself even more miserable

              • ribb0n_rabb1t
                2·
                2 days ago

                I think its important to grow as a person. Understanding the different forms of oppressions that capitalism uses will help you be more empathetic and less nihilistic.

                • bp16OP
                  1·
                  2 days ago

                  fair, i guess my own experience of meeting people who are into this stuff irl is kinda negative in that it often feels like a social club for university students to jerk off about being the most ideologically pure rather than anything meaningful

                  That being said some of the trannies i met are kinda based